Saturday 9: Goodbye

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

This song was chosen because it's time to say goodbye to 2024.

Thanks for participating in Saturday 9 this year.

1) In this song, Mary Hopkin asks her lover not to let her sleep too. late. Did you wake up this morning on your own, did someone wake you, or were you jangled awake by an alarm clock?  For once I slept until the alarm went off. Too bad it was due to having had a stomach bug yesterday.

2) The lyrics reference "a lonely song." Can you name a song about loneliness?  The first one I thought of was Owner of a Lonely Heart by YES.

3) "Goodbye" was written for Mary by Paul McCartney. He was the one who signed her to her first record contract and produced this and all her Apple Records, including her first big hit, "Those Were the Days." Looking back on 2024, who is someone who gave you a helping hand when you needed it?  So many people! Most of my co-workers, my mom, my husband, and especially my daughter.

4) This video shows Mary performing on The Ed Sullivan Show while wearing a miniskirt. Minis were very popular in 1969. Did you embrace a fashion trend in 2024?  Are comfy clothes and orthopedic shoes a trend?

5) Also in 1969, the Colts lost to the New York Jets in Super Bowl III. The game is famous because of all the hype leading up to it, including Joe Namath "guaranteeing" the underdog Jets would win. Do you have a special sports memory of 2024?  Nope. Not a sports girl these days.

6) What's the farthest from home you traveled in 2024?  About 200 miles to Erie, PA.

7) What was the biggest purchase that you made in 2024?  New living room furniture back in January.

8) What was your favorite book of 2024?  The latest Stephanie Plum book from Janet Evanovich, Now or Never.

9) What are you looking forward to most in 2025?  Spending time with my grandchildren, less sickness, improving my health, and actually having some vacation days to play with. 

Thanks to Sam @ Saturday 9 for the music and questions!

It's Nearly Here

 As I sit here in the glow of the Christmas tree lights, I'm forced to wonder if we will be celebrating Christmas at all.

I am on track and not feeling rushed. All but a few presents are wrapped. I kept the dinner plan simple and plan to make the side dishes today so that tomorrow can be a relaxing day with family.

Enter the "big nasty bug." Tim brought it home. This time it wasn't me. He is SICK. It's an intestinal thing and it's hitting him hard as these things usually do. He never gets a mild case of anything. I tend to blame it on his workaholism and failure to take care of himself. He just pushes himself until his body revolts.

So, that's why I'm sitting here wondering what kind of Christmas we'll be having. No one wants to catch it, obviously. Will he be over it by tomorrow? Will I have avoided it? I'm trying to be careful...keeping my distance, spraying Lysol on EVERYTHING, taking my vitamins, washing my hands constantly...but I do live with the man.

Also, he is an absolute grouch and miserable human being when he is sick. Plus, I have to worry about the fact that he can't take his meds while he can't keep anything down. Trying to get him to drink to avoid dehydration is not a job for the faint of heart.

I was really looking forward to tomorrow. I NEED a happy family holiday. Keep us in prayer for a quick recovery for Tim and that I don't catch the bug. Thank you.

In the meantime, I wish you and yours a wonderful, blessed Christmas filled with love, peace, and the joy of the season!

Currently

The weather... is hovering right at freezing with some light rain and snow due before morning. ☃

Reading... nothing. I just haven't had time.

Listening to... nothing but Christmas music. At work. In the car. At home. In a more general sense I'm currently listening to Tim snoring on the sofa.

Watching... The Great Christmas Light Fight.

Loving... that the Christmas party for the consumers where I work went off without a hitch and everyone had a wonderful time. Pictures aren't uploaded yet, but will be coming.

Thinking... about our daughter. It's hard not to. She has struggled with anxiety for several years now, but recently it been rising to increasingly higher levels. Last week she was able to drive herself to the ER when she felt a heaviness in her chest and pain in her arm. That proved to be nothing more than a panic attack (not that I'm trying to minimize it, but it's better than a heart attack).

Last evening she arrived at our house with the kids and for five minutes I watched her struggle to breathe and she complained her arms, legs, and face were numb, and her stomache and back were painful. She was clearly in distress and getting worse. I called 911. The EMT's found her heart rate and blood pressure were both sky high and they put her on oxygen. As they worked on her, she began to shake violently and said her limbs were getting stiff and she couldn't move.

The EMT's continued to talk to her and ask her questions about mundane things, distracting her, and coaching her to take deeper breaths. As she did that she began to calm a little and her blood pressure and heart rate began to come down. The longer she was on oxygen the more the numbness in her limbs receded. The EMT's said that was purely from a lack of oxygen.

Once they had calmed her quite a bit they did take her to the ER to be checked out. Again it was a panic attack. They suggested she get on her doctor to put her on something strictly for anxiety. She takes Cymbalta now. It's for depression, but is supposed to help with anxiety. Clearly it doesn't. She sees her doctor tomorrow.

Feeling... exhausted. Christmas, work, what's going on with our daughter... It's a lot. I've let a lot of things go this year. I ordered cookies rather than bake. I only put up the tree and a few other decorations.

The friend who was my maid of honor passed away this past Friday. They had to bring her home from Indiana so the viewing wasn't until today and I was unable to go due to work.

Oh, and I've been trying to deal with Oliver, my kitty. He's been peeing where he shouldn't and refusing to use his litter box. Our daughter took him to the vet for me yesterday to be checked out. It turned out he's terribly constipated and is so backed up it's putting pressure on everything inside him. To deal with this they gave him an enema...and sent him home.

Yeah, my life. You can't make this stuff up.

Celebrating... today was Tim's birthday. I gave him his gifts, but we didn't do much. We will go out to dinner this weekend. 

Grateful... always. Even though I feel like life has been hitting us a little on the hard side lately, I know that compared to so many in this world I am blessed and I am grateful to God for all of it!

Enjoying... the joy and wonder of my grandchildren and those I work with. It keeps my own Christmas joy alive.

Laughing at...

That's all for this week. I don't know if I'll be able to post any more before Christmas so I want to wish everyone a safe, happy, and blessed Christmas filled with family, friends, and love!!

A Week of Thanks

It's finally beginning to look a bit like Christmas around here. Between Thanksgiving falling so late in November and my bout with whatever nasty bug is making the rounds, I hadn't had time to do anything about decorating until today. Now, at the end of the day, at least the tree is up and partially decorated and some other decorations have found their way to places around the house. With such a short time until Christmas I'm scaling back a bit on the decorating, so I'll be able to finish tomorrow with ease.

My conscience is clear tonight as Oliver and I sit here snuggled in the recliner watching Christmas movies. We've watched Christmas Vacation and now we've moved on to an older Hallmark movie. Ollie likes those. It's supposed to get warmer tomorrow, but tonight it's cold and very windy. It's a night I'm happy to be at home.

It's been a good week and there is a lot I'm thankful for.

My inflammation stayed gone all week and is only now beginning to make a bit of a comeback. That made it so much more enjoyable to do, well...EVERYTHING.

They hired a new person at work. She is supposed to work in both departments. She seems very nice so I hope she works out.

I planned a Christmas team trivia activity for the consumers this past Friday. I was worried because you just never know how something like that is going to go over with them. Thankfully, they loved it and we had a lot of fun!

There was a wild and wicked thunder snow Wednesday night. It sounded as if a train were going to run through the house. There was some snow and ice, but not what they were calling for and I was able to drive to work with no problems on Thursday.

Christmas cards are beginning to arrive. I haven't done mine yet, but I do enjoy receiving these beautiful holiday greetings. (Deb from A Day in the Life, your card arrived today.)

Mike and I had a nice evening Thursday when I took him to his Lion's Club Christmas dinner meeting. The bad weather that was forecast never materialized so that's another thing to be thankful for.

They were able to recover the body of the poor woman who fell into a sink hole not too far from here while she was looking for her cat. The hole didn't exist before. It just collapsed under her. I know it made the national news so maybe you heard about it. There was hope the first day or two of digging out the hole, but Wednesday they declared it was a recovery and no longer a rescue. I'm glad they were able to give her family that much closure.

My Christmas shopping is done with the exception of getting a few gift cards that people have asked for. There are still a few things that haven't been delivered, but that's winding down. I'm sure I wasn't my mailman's favorite person this week as he had lots of packages to deliver every day.

I squeezed in a nail appointment today and now my nails are a pretty, sparkly, red for Christmas. That's always a pick-me-up.

It's a very freeing feeling to be at a point in life where I can accept that everything does not have to be perfect for Christmas. I used to stress myself something awful trying to get everything done. These days I'm good with whatever I can get done without killing myself to do it. I'm glad I finally learned this...though I admit I wish I'd learned it earlier in life.

With Tim not as strong as he used to be, I am more thankful than ever to have our daughter and her family next door to us. She is a huge help to both of us and the grandchildren brighten Tim up like not much else does these days.

And those are some of the things I am thankful for.

Coming up this week...

Tuesday & Thursday: Companion time with Mike.

Thursday: Meeting with the financial planning guy from work.

Friday: Colton's birthday. He will be 8!

Saturday: The Nutcracker ballet with my mom and Leah followed by a family party for Colton.

Saturday 9: Hurt So Bad

Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here.

1) Do you have any aches or pains this morning?  I'm doing this Friday evening, but yeah, I do and I'm sure I will have a few in the morning. Aches and pains have become near constant companions thanks to arthritis.

2) In this song, Linda Ronstadt complains that her ex doesn't get what she's going through. Have you recently felt misunderstood?  Not that I can think of.

3) Now let's put a positive spin on it: Is there someone in your life who gets you completely?  Not really these days.

4) Linda recorded a best-selling album in Spanish, and has also performed in French, German and Italian. How many languages do you speak?  Just one. I had 4 years of French in school, which were useless. I wish I had studied Spanish.

5) Linda once dated George Lucas of Star Wars fame. Who is your favorite Star Wars character?  Han Solo or Chewie.

6) Steve Martin has spoken affectionately about Linda and their romance in the 1970s. Are you a Steve Martin fan?  I liked him back in the 70s, but haven't really been a fan of his later work. It's okay...just not my thing.

7) Linda worked consistently and successfully with record producer Peter Asher throughout the 70s and 80s. Tell us about someone you enjoyed working beside.  I enjoyed working with a friend of ours who was the youth pastor at the church we attended at the time. He was like a kid brother to me, but also he taught me so much and gave me a chance in youth ministry. I was very disappointed when he betrayed his family and church later on and left ministry.

8) In 1980, when this song was popular, People magazine namIed author Stephen King one of the year's most intriguing people. Have you read any of his books or short stories?  I've read a couple of his books and seen a couple of his movies, but I don't like horror and his stuff can be so dark.

9) Random question: Looking back on last week, would you describe it as exciting or boring?  It wasn't boring or exciting, just very busy.

Thanks, Sam, for the music and questions!

Play along here.

Currently

The weather... is a brisk 25 degrees with a light breeze. Tomorrow night will bring a wintry mix (Yay, my favorite. Not!) and Thursday is supposed to bring colder temps and wind.

On the bright side, we don't live in the lake effect snow zone. Our niece in Girard, PA reports the snow, that began Thanksgiving night and ended yesterday, brought a whopping 59.3 inches! Another storm is due to roll through up there on Thursday and the prediction is for another 12-20 inches. Holy moly!

Reading... I just finished reading the latest Stephanie Plum novel, Now or Never. I don't want to give anything away, but wow! If you've been a fan, you need to read this one.

Listening... to Christmas music most of the time since it's now officially the season.

Watching... mostly Christmas movies, but at the moment an old episode of Gunsmoke featuring Loretta Swit.

Loving... how good I feel since I was sick over the holiday weekend. I guess barely eating for four days broke the inflammation cycle and while I have some arthritis pain, the incredibly painful muscles and tendons are causing me ZERO grief. Hopefully, it will last for a while.

Thinking... about ordering Christmas cookies this year rather than killing myself with baking. I could still do a couple kinds that are simple and order the rest. Pricey, yes, but saving myself the stress...PRICELESS!

Feeling... proud of our grandson. He and his dad spent the last two weeks making their own chess board. They finished it today.

Celebrating... nothing this week, but Tim and our grandson have birthdays coming up this month.

Grateful... this latest bug I had wasn't too bad or long lasting. I was feeling better in time to go back to work on Monday.

Enjoying... the "lighter" feel the world seems to have since the election is finally over. Whether one likes the winner or not, there's a relief in not being constantly bombarded by the vitriol of both sides, I think. People seem happier. Stores are busy. I've noticed more Christmas lights than usual. There's an air of hope. Let's pray it continues.

Laughing at...

Sounds legit.

My imagination's not that good.

t...

Saturday 9: My Baby Just Cares for Me

Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here.

1) Michael Buble sings that his lover doesn't care much about the theater or new clothes. Which have you done more recently -- attended a play or movie or added to your wardrobe?  I'm always adding something to my wardrobe so that would be the most recent. I am going to remedy my neglect of the theater soon, though. I've promised the grands a trip to see one of the holiday movies that are out now. Also, I'm taking my mom and my granddaughter to see the Nutcracker ballet in a few weeks.

2) This song was first performed in 1930, 45 years before Buble was born. What pop song do you love that is far older than you are?  I'm not sure this is what you're looking for, but I love a lot of songs from the big band era. Sentimental Journey by Les Brown and Doris Day is a particular favorite.

3) The video for this song features a spinning vinyl record. Do you still have a turntable?  No, I gave mine up close to 20 years ago.

4) Michael is currently appearing on The Voice. Are you watching this season?  No, I've never gotten into the show.

5) Of all his albums, Michael Buble's Christmas CD is his top seller. Now that we're in the month of November it's time for you to weigh in: When do you think it's appropriate to start playing holiday songs?  Whenever you want to. Life is hard. Do the things that bring you pleasure.

6) He unwinds by fishing, and he's very good at it. Fishing is a sport that requires lots of gear. Is there anyone in your life that has a hobby or passion that makes them easy to shop for?  Not any more.

7) Michael is a good cook and enjoys whipping up spaghetti bolognese. What's on the menu at your home this weekend?  Maybe soup or chili one day and pork chops another.

8) In 2016, when Michael Buble released this song, the United States Postal Service posthumously honored child star Shirley Temple with a postage stamp. Decades after leaving Hollywood, she served as US Ambassador to Ghana. Could you find Ghana on a map or globe?  Probably not its exact location. I think it's in Africa. Somewhere.

9) Random question -- You neglected that soft drink and now it's gone flat. Do you drink it anyway or dump it down the drain?  Down the drain. My husband, however, actually prefers his soft drinks warm and flat. 

Thanks, as always, to Crazy Sam for the music and questions!

Play along here.